Calendars make excellent Christmas gifts. For years my mom would buy me a new Ansel Adams wall calendar, but now it’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. At work I have a big one for the wall and then a desk version.
So imagine my delight when I went to Calendars.com to check out what’s new for 2008. First is the 2008 Up Close and Personal Dale Earnhardt Jr. wall calendar. It’s photos of Junior away from the track. Brilliant! And then I noticed there’s also a 2008 Dale Jr. Pocket Planner — that’s so going on my Christmas list.
If you’d rather have Jeff Gordon in your pocket they’ve got one for him too, along with other drivers like Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson.
Kasey Kahne has an “off the track” calendar, the cover features him on a motorcycle. I guess ya gotta play up that bad boy image somehow since he’ll be pushing Budweiser next year.
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My first intention was to post a bunch of photos from the NASCAR Champions Week in New York. But the majority of the photos are basically Jimmie Johnson around the city — Hey there’s Jimmie and Chad Knaus hanging off a light post! — and who really wants to see that? Exactly. So I picked just the photos that featured Jimmie’s wife Chandra. Why? Because the woman is always so stylish and put together. She looked great the entire week and in every photo so I wanted to give her props for making the best of her situation. I’m sure she adores her husband and is incredibly proud of him, but I bet that whole going to New York and having to plan your wardrobe and probably buy new stuff just for the occasion is so tiring… Wait, what was I talking about? Who am I kidding, she’s so friggin lucky. Gah. Ok… Without further adieu the photos:
Chandra and Jimmie Johnson pose for a photo at the 2007 Champion’s Dinner at the Waldorf=Astoria. (Photo Credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR)
New York Stock Exchange Chief Financial Officer Nelson Chai (left) talks with Chandra and Jimmie Johnson during their tour of the New York Stock Exchange. (Photo Credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Jimmie and Chandra Johnson pose for a photo in Times Square. (Photo Credit: Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR)
2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and wife Chandra smile for the cameras on the yellow carpet at the Waldorf=Astoria for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Awards Ceremony. (Photo Credit: Brad Barket / Getty Images for NASCAR)
In other news…
– The Aussie take on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s trip to Australia.
– The Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals are being televised for the first time ever, but there’s one little catch. It’s going to televised on Pay-Per-View with a suggested price of $24.95. 250 drivers will spend 4 days trying to qualify their 800-hp midgets for this race so I guess it’s worth the cost. Notable NASCAR Cup drivers participating this year include Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and JJ Yeley. Check out the commercial below:
The 2007 Cup season is finally over. Jimmie Johnson is the Championship winner for the second year in a row and I’m just OK about it. Obviously it’s a great thing for him and his team. Hendrick Motorsports had a wonderful year. Three out of four of their drivers made it into the Chase and two of those drivers finished first and second. So instead of being so incredibly excited for Jimmie I’m happy for Rick Hendrick. He’s built an organization that is a force to be reckoned with, there’s no way around that.
Like all of the drivers I’m looking forward to next year. I became numb to the cruel hand fate had dealt to Dale Earnhardt Jr. over the end of this season many weeks ago. I can’t even talk about what happened at Homestead. There’s so much possibility awaiting him at Hendrick next year it’s pointless to waste time being frustrated with his last races with DEI.
2008 is going to be something. The thing that I’m the most excited about seeing is how the teams that are switching to Toyota next year handle the transition. I have a feeling that Tony Stewart is going to have some choice words if things don’t go so well.
Of course next year I want to be there in person to see it all go down. I ask you, what could be more fun than that? Yea, not much.
Matt Kenseth and crew chief Robbie Reiser celebrate the end of their eight-year partnership with a win at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo Credit: Doug Benc/Getty Images)
Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 pit crew adjust his car during the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo Credit: Marc Serota/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Jeff Gordon takes a break during practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo Credit: Doug Benc/Getty Images)
Car owner Jack Roush and Carl Edwards hoist the NASCAR Busch Series driver’s championship trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Ricky Rudd races Kurt Busch in Rudd’s 906th and final NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series start. (Photo Credit: Doug Benc/Getty Images)
– This is kinda old but I had to post these photos (there’s one below too). Vince Vaughn attended the race at Texas to promote 
his new movie “Fred Claus.” He is a hot, hot man and I like him a lot. I don’t like mincing words when it comes to the awesomeness that is Vince Vaughn — he had me at “Swingers.” And ya know it did cross my mind that my name starts with a V and well it’d be really cool if we got married ’cause we’d have the same intials. But anyway… you really didn’t need to know that.
– Even though it’s coming from Kurt Busch, it’s nice to know that one of the drivers agrees with me on the lameness that is only the top 10 chasers getting the royal treatment — and not the top 12 as it should be — in New York this year:
“All the Chase drivers want to finish at least in the top 10 in the points,” Kurt said. “The way they have it this year is that there are 12 drivers in the Chase, but only the top 10 get to drive their show cars around Manhattan and take to the stage at the NASCAR Awards Banquet. It’s a case of team pride and wanting to be able to do all you can for your sponsors. To tell you the truth, as hard as all the teams work toward making the Chase, it’s kind of sad that two teams get left out like that. I really don’t understand that, but I guess you just have to accept it and go on.”
– Are you on Facebook? If you are you should check out the page I made and become a fan of “The Fast and The Fabulous.” I’ll be your best friend.
Everything’s bigger in Texas, except these guys, they really are that tall.
Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki (left) talks with actor Vince Vaughn at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo Credit: Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Geoffrey Miller over at AOL Fanhouse doesn’t seem to think that Jeff Gordon will be able to get past Jimmie Johnson for the Championship this weekend at Homestead:
After Johnson’s late-race domination at Phoenix — a race in which he led the final 24 laps — Johnson leads Gordon’s No. 24 team by 86 points. The basic math on that is that Gordon must win and lead the most laps at Homestead and Johnson has to finish 18 or worse.
In other words, it’s not going to happen.
While I could care less if Jimmie or Jeff wins the Championship, I still can’t let go of the hope that Jeff could still pull out the win in the end. I never give up until it’s all said and done. Why? Because I don’t want it to be boring — and if no one else is going to keep it interesting for me I’ll do it myself. Yes, the chances are slim but I’d rather cling to slim ones instead of none at all. It’s already boring as hell to see Jimmie win four-in-a-row. While it’s a very cool thing to accomplish, it doesn’t happen every day, but as a non-Jimmie fan it’s annoying.
Then factor in the fact that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is going into this final race of the season winless and you have a very irked Valli.
In other news…
During the coverage of the race at Phoenix Dr. Jerry Punch noted that at the Championship banquet in New York this year only the top 10 of the 12 drivers will be on stage. Ok. Whose incredibly lame idea was that? If I was one of the two drivers in the bottom I would feel totally gypped. That’s like the Olympics committee saying “oh, wait, we’ve only got room on the podium for the first place winner.”
(Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)
I have never been this frustrated with caution flags. Martinsville was un-real. I hated the way it ended. I was really hoping that Ryan Newman would be able to pass up Jimmie Johnson, but again a win for him was thwarted by the Hendrick powerhouse and those friggin’ cautions. 
I could say how disappointed I was to know that engine problems are what screwed Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the millionth time, but really what’s the point? I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to the end of a NASCAR season as much as I have this one. I just want to get to Daytona (in person!) and see Dale in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy and let the winning begin! I’m so done with this season it’s crazy. I say that but at the same time I hold out the hope that he’ll still win a race before this year is over.
Is it just me or did they make the pre-race show shorter?? I’m not sure ’cause I only caught the last 10 minutes, which — thankfully — only consisted of the national anthem and the call to start the engines.
I was excited to read that Rusty Wallace was getting the axe but apparently it’s not actually going to happen. I started thinking about my fantasy race coverage crew. It goes like this, Allen Bestwick and Wally Dallenbach would do the pre-race stuff. The pre-race show would feature actual semi-in-depth interviews that were taped during the week before the race. Ya know kinda like how they do with the NFL. Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds and Mike Joy would call the race (as they do now on FOX) and the pit reporters would be Dave Burns, Steve Byrnes, Dick Berggren and Matt Yocum. Ah, if only! What do you think? Good? No good?
Mike Skinner, driver of the #5 Toyota Tundra Toyota, kisses his wife, Angela after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Kroger 200 at Martinsville Speedway on October 20, 2007 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Clint Bowyer, driver of the #07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, watches during qualifying for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 19, 2007 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Clint Bowyer, driver of the #07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, drives in the garage area, during practice for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 19, 2007 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Denny Hamlin is all smiles during qualifying for the Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway (Photo Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 DuPont Chevrolet, walks in the garage area, during practice for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway on October 19, 2007 in Martinsville, Virginia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
